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THE LIFE 



OF 



Samuel Stilwell 



WITH NOTICES OF 



SOME OF HIS CONTEMPORARIES, 



BY 



SAMUEL STILWELL DOUGHTY. 



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THE LIFE 



OF 



Samuel Stilwell, 



WITH NOTICES OF 



SOME OF HIS CONTEMPORARIES, 



BY 



SAMUEL STILWELL DOUGHTY. 



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THE LIBRARY 
OF CONGRESS 

WASHINGTON 



* 



Printed by Brown & Wilson, No. 113 Fulton Street, New York. 
Copyright secured. 



Among the objects of the writer of the following pages are these : to 
give persops who were acquainted with Mr. Stilwell, and to their descend- 
ants, and to those who are unwilling that a good example should be forgot- 
ten, a brief account of him, and of his useful and honorable life. (It is 
understood that to others this may be uninteresting.) And also to record 
reminiscences connected with the history of Long Island, and of the city of 
New York, and of old-time life there, which may be of more general con- 
cern. To preserve such recollections seems a pleasant duty to one born in 
the Empire City, and proud of the virtues of its early inhabitants. 

New York, December, 1877. 



THE LIFE 

OF 

SAMUEL STILWELL, 

WITH NOTICES OF 

SOME OF HIS CONTEMPORARIES, 



BY 
SAMUEL STILWELL DOUGHTY. 



CHAPTER I. 

Samuel Stilwell was born on the 22nd day of Octo- 
ber, 1763, in the town of Jamaica, on Long Island, in the 
State of New York. 

His ancestor who came to America, took this name when 
he landed at Gravesend, L. I. It has been supposed that he 
was one of the members of the "High Court of Justice," 
which tried and condemned King Charles I, of England, 
who was beheaded in conformity with its sentence. On the 
restoration of the monarchy he was in danger of arrest and 
punishment for having taken part in these proceedings, and 
emigrated, probably from England to Holland, and thence 
to America. The name he bore in his own country was 
never known ; he called himself Stil-well because he was 
still well when he landed in America, about the year 1654. 

Mr. Samuel Stilwell, of whose life it is now proposed 
to give a brief account, was the youngest of eight children. 
In his infancy he was feeble, but after three years of age, his 
health and strength improved, till he was about thirteen 
years old. A stream of cold water ran near the house in 



6 

which he lived at that time, and in it, he and other boys used 
to bathe. At noon of a hot day, coming out of the water 
into the sunshine, he was overcome and carried fainting into 
the house. He was ill for some days, and thought he never 
entirely recovered from the effect of the sunstroke, if such 
it was. 

One of the oldest of these bathers, was Amos Shaw, a 
curious boy, very swift-footed, and so determined to win in 
the races sometimes made up in summer, that he literally 
divested himself of every weight, that he might run without 
hindrance. 

Amos had an excellent memory, and some of his facul- 
ties were up to the average of other boys, but a strange 
want of judgment was occasionally manifested by him. Be- 
ing penurious and thrifty, it occurred to him to save the 
annual expense of an almanac, by committing the old one to 
memory. He had advanced astonishingly in that enter- 
prise, before he was persuaded to give it up. 

He grew strong and tall, and became the best plough- 
man on the Island. Following his oxen, he all day loudly 
sang — 

" The mole works darkly under the ground 
Be thou no under-minder found." 

These boys had many odd pets. There was a small 
species of owl, common then, which being caught young, 
was easily tamed, and became docile and in some degree in- 
telligent and affectionate ; its queer, solemn ways were 
sources of great amusement to those simple-hearted young- 
sters. 

Samuel's brother Stephen, three years his senior, was in- 
ventive and ingenious to a degree that set all the neighbors 
talking. Before he was fifteen years old he had made a 
number of curious things. Among these was a small house 
with the figure of a man, carved and painted, standing be- 



fore the door. To his back was fastened a long piece of cat- 
gut and a weak spring ; when the weather was fine, the cat- 
gut — which was carried away unseen among the leaves of a 
tree near the road, to the trunk of which the weather-house 
was fastened — expanded, and allowed the spring to push 
the man out ; but when it grew damp, the consequent con- 
traction pulled the man into the house. This served the 
neighbors as a barometer. They used to say, "It will rain 
soon — Stephen's man has gone into the house." He also 
made a figure of a man sawing wood, with saw and buck ; 
over him stood another figure with a whip ; a wind mill gave 
motion to them. When a breeze sprang up, one began to 
use his whip, the other his saw. 

After these things were finished, Stephen went to New 
York, and there saw a vessel of war. The brothers had a 
fleet of little boats which they sailed and manoeuvred in a 
pond, to these they added a miniature man of war about two 
feet long ; building it was a work requiring all their patience, 
for their stock of tools was limited. They worked at it 
whenever they had opportunity for a long time, and when 
finished, manned it with carved sailors and marines, and 
placed little wooden cannons on the deck. It was carefully 
painted, and when dry, launched on the pond. After several 
successful voyages, a flaw of wind overset it, and sailors and 
marines swam ashore. 

When the vessel ceased to be a novelty, they made a 
water-wheel, which was turned by the running of a steady 
stream of water near the road ; with this, Stephen connected 
a clock of his own manufacture, which kept good time. 

To Stephen's inventive powers were added perseverance 
and many good qualities of mind and heart. His person 
and manners were pleasing, he was free from envy and un- 
charitableness, and made friends wherever he went. After 
a long and checkered life, he died at his son's house in 
Ulster Co., N. Y., in the year 1847. 



In after life, Mr. Stilwell often reverted to the pleas- 
ure enjoyed while helping Stephen in his inventions, and to 
the happiness of their home, which was an abode of the 
strongest and purest family affection. His remembrance of 
these things is embalmed in " Recollections of Childhood, 1 ' 
first published in Historical Sketches of the Eise and Pro- 
gress of the Methodist Society, printed in the year, 1821 ; 
it was then extensively copied by periodicals. After several 
years had elapsed, it had another round of publication in 
the United States, being then credited to an English paper. 
Part of the preface and the poem are as follows : 

" On the down hill of life, when the strength and activity of the body 
are declining, the eye-sight withdrawing, the ears growing dull of hearing, 
and the things which in the prime of life engrossed our attention, and filled 
our hearts, can please and divert us no more, we instinctively turn back to 
our former years, and retrace in memory, the almost obliterated lines and 
characters marked by the scenes of our childhood and youth. By fond re- 
collection we enjoy again the innocent amusements of former days, or 
trace with wonder the many dangers through which we have passed unhurt. 
We are led by reflection to adore that munificent Being, whose kind provi- 
dence has been our guard and protection through our past lives, whom we 
trust for the present, and in whom we place our hopes of future felicity." 

" How often I think on the scenes of my childhood, 

The meadows and fields where the wild flowers grew ; 

The orchards, the pond, the glade, and the wildwood, 

And the social delights that ray infancy knew. 

i 

"■ The dew-spangled lawn, and the green grassy meadow, 
The copse, where the birds warbled sweetly their lay ; 
Where oft in the wide-spreading trees' ample shadow 
We felt the sea-breeze, in the heat of the day. 

" I remember the road with its winding and turning, 
The green living hedge row, that skirted the wayj 
The field it enclosed, where the brick kiln was burning, 
And the pits where they dug up the smooth yellow clay. 



9 



*i Nor have I forgot when a storm was a-coming, 

The hoarse rumbling noise of the waves of the sea ; 

The old hollow log, where the partridge was drumming, 

And the wood-pecker, tapping the hollow oak tree. 

" I remember the old fashioned mansion we lived in, 

With the bay, and the beach, and the ocean in view ; 
The swamp, and the brake, which the singing birds built in, 
And the trees by the lane, where the thorn apples grew. 

" In that old fashioned house, in that loved situation, 
With small panes of glass, and clean oaken floors ; 
Content was our lot, without fear of invasion, 
Not a bar, or a lock, or a bolt to the doors. 

" Ah ! what was the cause of that tranquil enjoyment, 
Not the house, or the fields, or the prospect so rare ; 
Not the orchards, or pond, or the rural employment, 
But the dearly loved friends of my bosom were there. 

" And the day that we parted, our heartrending anguish, 
No pen can describe, no pencil portray ; 
To us all the beauties around seemed to languish, 
And all the gay scenes quickly faded away. 

" These transient enjoyments, how fair and how fickle ! 
They spring up and bloom like the flowers in May ; 
Alas ! trouble and care thrust in the sharp sickle, 
They're cut down, and wither, and die in a day. 

" But the joys of the faithful are always increasing, 
Their peace is celestial, their comfort divine ; 
In the truth they rejoice, and 'mid pleasures unceasing 
In glory and beauty forever they'll shine." 



CHAPTER II. 



The stream near their house contained several large 
trout, which were often found in a deep place under the 
bank. There Samuel used to feed them, and putting his 
hand in the water, would tickle their scaly sides. If absent 
from this place of meeting, they would hasten to it on seeing 
him near. He told his mother about it, and one day when 
company came unexpectedly near dinner-time, she suggest- 
ed that he might take them out. He did so, without consid- 
ering that it was a breach of trust — they were eaten for 
dinner. The next time he went along the brook, a horrible 
idea that he had betrayed his finny friends, came into his 
mind. It troubled him often ; even in old age, when he men- 
tioned it, his voice would tremble, as he regretted the 
thoughtless act, and wished it had not been committed ; but 
the inexorable seal, " the past cannot be recalled," had been 
set upon it, as upon myriads of actions regretted by man- 
kind. 

Great numbers of fish and wild fowl inhabited the waters 
and woods of Long Island before the Revolutionary war. 
Blue-fish, now the chief destroyers of other kinds, were 
then unknown. There were traditions of the visit of such 
fish in time past, and some persons expected their return, 
but Mr. Stilwell did not see any blue fish till he was past 
middle age. In his youth there was no species having such 
preponderance of numbers and such powers of destroying 
others, as bluefish now have. Weak fish swarmed close to 
the shores, and were seldom eaten. " Familiarity bred con- 
tempt.' 1 Sheepshead, striped bass, and king-fish, or barb, 
were plenty, and of eels there was no end. Seals came oc- 
casionally into the South Bay. One went up a creek, where 



11 

he was shut in by stout wattles of brushwood placed across 
and near the mouth of it by a fisherman, who kept his boat 
there. The seal was thus imprisoned several weeks, and be- 
came quite tame, being fed by the fisherman when he came 
in from work ; he escaped, however, when the equinoctial 
storm caused a very high tide. 

The style and system of living in those days were sim- 
ple and economical, without being mean or sordid. Power 
looms had not then come into use. All the spinning and 
weaving for the family were usually done in the house, the 
spinning by the women, the weaving by the men. Mk. Stil- 
well first saw the lady who became his wife when he went 
to assist her father in weaving. 

Near the house where he lived in childhood, a party of 
Indians had their quarters. These were a remnant of a 
tribe almost exterminated by wars, which the vindictive 
temper of their race had kept up for ages. After tribal 
wars were abated by the presence of white people, the love of 
rum prevented prosperity or increase of numbers, and added 
to the difficulty of teaching Indians to live by cultivation of 
the soil, rather than by hunting and fishing. 

Every year these Indians made a lot of baskets, which 
they bartered with white people for luxuries. If they gave 
a white acquaintance a basket, they were sure to remind the 
recipient of the gift, if at any time during the year they 
asked a favor, as a reason for its being granted. Tho' often 
intoxicated, they were careful not to be all drunk at once, 
and they had secrets which they never divulged, one of 
which was the material used for coloring their baskets with 
bright red, yellow, blue and green stains, extracted probably 
from roots or herbs. 

Like other Indians they were improvident. If they 
bought blankets at the beginning of cold weather, they 
would sell them to get rum, when a mild temperature re- 
turned. This may have been the reason for calling the mild 
weather of autumn, Indian summer. 



12 

Tho' forecasting seems of little use to them, Indians are 
weather-wise after their own fashion. They do not look 
for steady cold weather, until there have been enough au- 
tumnal rains to fill the ponds. They expect hard frost 
during the winter next ensuing a plentiful crop of nuts 
and acorns. This they deem a provision of nature for the 
benefit of squirrels and other creatures, which eat most when 
the weather is cold. They predict long- continued snow 
when the red balls on wild rose bushes are very plentiful 
in autumn. These are the last resort of starving birds, 
kept from usual supplies, by snow. The balls do not open 
and expose the seeds within, till frost has prevailed for sev- 
eral weeks. Such predictions are probably derived from 
general rules, which may have exceptions. 

If they suffered at any time, they had the comfort of 
knowing they were better off than their forefathers, who 
seldom went to sleep without fear of surprise, and were never 
sure of being able to keep their scalps in place. White peo- 
ple when they came among them did not find them in a 
happy state. Tradition and corroborating circumstances 
make it certain that many massacres had formerly taken 
place, and that constant fear must then have harassed the 
weak and helpless among them. 

Silas Wood, a Senator of the State of New York, and 
a great friend of Me. Stilwell, in a sketch of the first set- 
tlement of the towns on Long Island, published in the year 
1826, has the following : — " All savage nations are addicted 
to war. The causes of war are numerous, and the mode of 
carrying it on, destructive of their numbers. It appears that 
Long Island had been overrun by hostile tribes, and many 
of the natives must have been destroyed by them." 

Traditions among these Indians, which referred to a con - 
siderable population, were sustained by the existence of im- 
mense banks of shells, around the south side bays, and also 
along the margin of the Sound, which show that there was 
at some period, a more peaceful era than the century imme- 



13 

diately preceding the advent of white people upon Long 
Island, at which time the Montauk tribe appear to have 
"exercised some kind of sovereignty over the whole terri- 
tory." Whether these were of the "hostile tribes," which 
coming from elsewhere had "overrun the island," men- 
tioned by Mr. Wood, seems uncertain, for the traditions are 
indefinite, and there may have been more than one inva- 
sion, as well as wars of resident tribes ; but a little provoca- 
tion, where there was a difference of tribal organization, was 
probably, for a long time, enough to cause fighting and 
murder. 



CHAPTER III. 



The troubles which preceded the outbreaking of the 
Revolutionary war, began on Long Island, considerably in 
advance of that event. The neighbors of Mr. Stilwell's 
father were divided in opinion. The Tories, or adherents of 
the British, were bitter against him and his family, because 
of their opinions. Stephen, who was frank and ready of 
speech, was sent to Brooklyn to attend a clothing store, 
kept by one of his father's friends. Samuel remained at 
home to study mathematics with his father, who was a com- 
petent teacher. The knowledge thus acquired was singular- 
ly useful in after life. 

Long Island was unfortunate during the whole progress 
of the war. Not only was its territory ravaged by armies 
and brigands, and its inhabitants impoverished to a degree 
of which we now have little idea, but great bitterness of feel- 
ing prevailed among the people. Those who upheld British 
rule were in the minority, but expecting the triumph of their 
allies, were violently opposed to those of a different way 
of thinking, and such were all the Stilwells. Two 
of these Tories, finding Samuel one day at a distance 
from any house, abused him shamefully, threatening to kill 
him with an axe, and keeping him prisoner for several 
hours. 

About this time Stephen became proprietor, or was left 
in charge, of the clothing store in Brooklyn, where he at- 
tended, and Samuel went to help him there. British ves- 
sels of war arrived, and the town was completely in their 
power, which at first was used gently, but by degrees, press- 
gangs and other plagues were permitted or imposed. On a 
summer morning about six o'clock, as Samuel, who had 



15 

slept in the store, was taking down the window shutters he 
was seized by a press-gang acting under the direction of a 
Tory neighbor. By his order the young prisoner was taken 
to the guard house, without being allowed to call anybody 
to look after the store, and told he was to be put on board 
a man of war, which was to sail at the turn of the tide, near 
evening. 

As soon as Stephen learned from the neighbors what had 
occurred, he hastened home. His father was sick, but Mrs. 
Stilwell set out at once for the house of Judge Ludlow, 
whose wife she had aided when ill. The Judge, though an 
influential Tory, was a kindly man. British officers were 
with him at dinner when she arrived at his house. Fortu- 
nately one of them could give the order desired, which 
enabled her to deliver her son from a complete and unhappy 
change. What a different life would have been his, had she 
failed to rescue him ! 

The man who caused the arrest, was led to do it by miss- 
ing a silver tankard, usually kept in his dairy. On that 
morning it could not be found ; he charged his colored fe- 
male slave with having stolen it, and with a cowhide whip 
drove her into the street, beating her in front of every house, 
as he inquired: "Did you sell it here?" She denied, till 
she came to Stephen's store, where she remained silent. 
Samuel, being at the window, was taken by the press gang, 
which just then came along, and were ready to gratify the 
Tory, who knew he was opposed to the British. He was 
carried off, protesting his innocence. The tankard was 
found during the day in a pan of milk, into which it had 
fallen, or been thrown, from an upper shelf. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The war went on, and was concluded without bringing 
him other adventures. The hard times described by him as 
consequent upon it, were of more severe aspect than the 
hard times of later days. 

Economy was carried to extremes by some persons who 
proposed it as a remedy for scarcity of money. There was 
Friend Mowatt, a Quaker, who made a quill pen last him 
an indefinite time by mending it with a small pair of scis- 
sors ; as long as he could clip a point upon it he was satis- 
fied, and wrote plainly with it. -After his wife had put a 
carpet on the stairs of his house, he always went up one 
side and down the other, so as to wear it evenly. He was a 
boat-builder, and would stand by his journeymen all day, 
handing them the tool next wanted for their work, in a way 
that would now be thought intolerable by the workmen. 

Among the relatives of Mr. Stilwell was an elderly 
man, who owned a good farm. The British, when in pos- 
session of that part of Long Island, quartered or billeted an 
officer and several men in his house. When about to leave 
it they proposed to take him with them. He objected, and 
inquired what good it would do them. The officer replied — 
"It will prevent you from carrying intelligence to our en- 
emies." The rejoinder was : "If that's all, I'll promise you 
never to go off this farm." The officer took his word of 
honor for it, and left him. The promise was kept, for never, 
living or dead, did he go off his farm ; by his own direction 
he was buried in it, after his decease. 

Mr. Stilwell' s mother was one of the excellent of the 
earth. Sterner judges than any of her name conceded this. 
She possessed personal beauty, sweetness of temper, cour- 



IT 

age and ability to make the best of everything. Her affec- 
tion for family and friends, her economy without meanness, 
and other good qualities were admirable. She was never 
known to lose anything. When grown old she had a pin 
of a kind used for fastening skirts half a century before ; it 
was worn short, by constant and continued use. No child of 
modern prosperity is prouder of a diam ond ornament than 
was she of this visible proof of carefulness. Her son Samuel 
resembled her in this, as in other things. While at school, 
he had but one slate pencil, the most prominent corner of 
which was used as the point ; it was never sharpened. 

His brother William grew up large and strong ; he ex- 
celled in athletic exercises, and sometimes would lift a 
heavy Dutch plow-share with his teeth, and do other things 
which no one else on the Island was able to match. He was 
a capital shot, and skilful fisherman with line or net. His 
stories of these sports were very entertaining. 

At the close of the war, when the Hessian soldiers, who 
had been hired out by their princes to fight the battles of the 
British, were brought to New York, to be sent back to Eu- 
rope, Mr. Stilwell became acquainted with several of 
them. They dreaded being packed in transport ships, and 
some, who had learned to speak English, deserted, and re- 
mained in this country. He went one day into a ferry- 
house, where he heard music. A Hessian was playing 
softly on a violin, with tears in his eyes. When asked, why 
so sorrowful, "Ec lik nat de schif," (I like not the ship) said 
he, and so said they all. 

The bargain between one of these German princes and the 
British Government has been exposed by the publication of 
a letter from him to his agent. From this it appears, that 
the men killed, were to be paid for at a higher price than 
those returned home alive, and the agent is urged to get a 
full return of the killed, in a way that shows the prince 
would not be sorry if it was large. Perhaps some of the de- 



18 

serters were paid for as killed. But that did not trouble 
them ; industry and economy, made them popular and 
comfortable in their new home. 

The prison ships in which Americans were confined and 
barbarously treated during the war, were never forgotten 
by those who were in or near New York at that time. The 
manner in which British and American Tories treated their 
prisoners was horrible. The jail (now the Hall of Records) 
was full of prisoners at one time. To diminish their num- 
ber, it was believed that the keeper mixed poison in the bread 
baked for them. When they discovered that starvation or 
poison was to be their lot, their wailings were so dreadful, 
that residents in the neighborhood, petitioned the command- 
ing officer to stop such cruelties. The noise of their cries 
was stopped, but it was not known that the keeper was pun- 
ished. 

The North and Middle Dutch Churches were also used 
as prisons. Hundreds of men taken prisoners at Fort 
Washington and Long Island were crowded into them, and 
suffered dreadfully. The winter was intensely cold ; there 
was no glass in the prison windows ; the food furnished was 
poor and scanty, and rumors of poison were rife in the city ; 
many died and were buried by their fellow prisoners. At 
this time the British officers and their wives passed the time 
in gay frivolity, and were remarkable for the richness and 
gaiety of their dress. 



CHAPTER V. 



William Stilwell, Senior, the father of the sub- 
ject of these notes, died in 1783. Samuel soon after 
married Elizabeth Burtis, and removed to New York. 
He set up a store of clothing and varieties on Little Dock 
Street — now State Street — near the Battery. This was soon 
after the war, and money was so scarce that people wore 
old clothes rather than part with it for new. He and his 
wife, who was active and intelligent in business matters, 
reasoned, that though people may wear old clothes, they 
must have fresh victuals, and by degrees they changed their 
store into a grocery. 

As the country recovered from the effects of the war, 
and began to feel the advantages of good government, on 
Maiden Lane, near the East River, where was then located 
the Oswego Market, and afterwards at the southeast corner 
of Greenwich and Partition (now Fulton) Streets, he pros- 
pered in business. A difficulty in the way of trade then — 
especially with country people — was a want of circulating 
medium. The Continental money had become worthless, 
there was but little specie in circulation, and no system of 
credit. Many of his country customers were descendants 
of Hollanders, who settled along the Hudson River. To 
meet their case, he learned the Low Dutch language, and 
bartered with them tea, sugar, and other groceries, for meal, 
flaxseed, beeswax, etc., which he sold to citizens. 

About 1786, he was drawn as juryman to try a foot-pad 
who robbed a man of a watch, in broad daylight, near a 
bridge over a stream through Lispenard' s meadows, at 
present the junction of Broadway and Canal Streets. Just 
after the perpetration of this crime, two men came in sight, 



20 

who, with the owner of the watch, pursued the robber till, 
quitting the beaten road, he sank in the muddy meadow. 
Bridging it with part of a neighboring fence, the pursuers 
captured the thief, with the watch in his possession. Of 
course the proof was clear and positive against him, and to 
a jury of those days there was no alternative but to bring in 
a verdict of guilty. He was executed, under the English 
law, then remaining in force, but it was always an uncom- 
fortable reflection to Mr. Stilwell that he had been forced 
into participation in a proceeding where the penalty was so 
disproportionate to the offense. 

For awhile after he removed to it, the population of the 
city was so limited, that everybody knew almost every other 
body in it, and great allowance was made for eccentric pe- 
culiarities. A crazy individual, called Colonel Blonk, who 
would not submit to the ablutions and changes of dress 
common in civilized society, was exercised on the subject of 
long church services on Sunday morning, and several times 
standing up in the churches, announced the hour of 
"Twelve o'clock, and time to go to dinner," in stentorian 
tones before the close of the sermon. 

A vender of shell fish at that time, was anxious about a 
monument to be erected over his grave. He thought and 
talked as much of it as do those who can afford a costly struc- 
ture, but was obliged to rest content with having his grave 
covered with clam shells, which, after he had shuffled off his 
mortal coil, leaving little for heirs to dispute about, was 
carefully done by his friends. 

There was Shaksperian geniality about Mr. Stilwell' s 
temperament. Innocent peculiarities afforded him pleas- 
ure. He was the friend not only of the humble oddities 
above mentioned, but of some of the most respectable men 
in the city. A majority of these friends, were members of 
Trinity and St. Paul' s Churches, and gave their names to the 
streets then laid out through church property, as Duane, 



21 

Reade, and others. A kindly, noble band they were ! He 
would probably have become a member of Trinity Church 
had he been brought up less plainly, or had a man of differ- 
ent sort been then bishop. The incumbent at that time was 
foppish in dress and manners, and used to walk with his hat 
in his hand, from the southwest corner of Nassau and Fulton 
Streets to St. Paul's Chapel, on fine Sunday mornings, to 
keep from disturbing the frosted powder on an awful look- 
ing wig he was accustomed to wear. 

Whatever determined his selection, Mr. Stilwell 
joined the Methodist Episcopal Church in John Street, and 
soon became an active member of it. 

He saw, and later in life, often described the procession 
which marched through New York, in celebration of the 
adoption of the Federal Constitution, the greatest demon- 
stration of the kind, that had ever been made in this country. 
It is a wonder how so much expense could then be afforded, 
as was lavished on this procession. There was Nicholas 
Cruger, driving a six-ox team, as the representative of 
agriculture ; masons, painters, cabinet and chair makers, 
and furriers, all with emblems of their trades. The uphols- 
terers had a chair of state, on a carpeted car, with a superb 
canopy twenty feet high. There was also a ship in the pro- 
cession, nearly thirty feet long, completely rigged, and fur- 
nished with cannons, from which salutes were fired. There 
were about four thousand men who marched, and dined at 
the country seat of Nicholas Bayard, where now is 
Broome Street, between Broadway and Bowery. Here ele- 
gant and immense rural structures had been put up for their 
accommodation, under direction of Major L'Eneant, a 
French officer of ability and taste. This occurred on the 
23d day of July, 1788. 

Mr. Stilwell was present at the inauguration of Wash- 
ington as first President of the United States, which took 
place in front of the old City Hall, then occupying the site 



22 

of the present United States Treasury, on Wall, opposite 
Broad Street. He was a great admirer of General Wash- 
ington, and of him, and Hamilton, spoke oftener than of 
any of the officers or statesmen of their day. He was inti- 
mately'acquainted with Hamilton, who called on him sev- 
eral times, and had it not been for the duel between Hamil- 
ton and Burr, which in 1804, removed the former from life 
and politics, would probably have risen with him to official 
station in the United States Government. When it was seen 
that ambition might bring an honorable man into such a po- 
sition that he must do wrong, or be disgraced, his desire for 
distinction was abated, and contentment took the place of 
ambition in his mind and heart. 



CHAPTER VI. 



While they lived at the corner of Greenwich and Fulton 
Streets, he, and his wife, (who was childless), adopted her 
namesake, the orphan daughter of Mrs. Stilwell's sister 
Sarah, who, many years before, had married Col. John 
Taylor. At this time Mr. Stilwell's mother, who re- 
tained remarkable youthfulness of appearance and feeling, 
visited them. She soon after married Mr. Clark, a wealthy 
farmer, and removed with him to Tappan, on the Hudson 
River. 

By the year 1791, Mr. Stilwell had accumulated suffi- 
cient means to buy a farm, a possession for which he had of- 
ten wished. He purchased from Messrs. Cock & Underhill 
one hundred and twenty-five acres of land, at Blooming- 
dale, extending from the Road eastwardly to the common 
lands. It was in 1816 divided by the Eighth Avenue, and 
subsequently by Eighty- sixth Street, and is now almost all 
within the bounds of Central Park. On this farm there was 
a good house and outbuildings. It adjoined the residence 
of Charles Ward Apthorpe, an English gentleman of the 
old school, and a pleasant neighbor. Here, in cultivating 
fruits, for success in which he was remarkable, even in 
those times, when fruit-growing was well understood, and 
not subject to many of its present drawbacks, Mr. Stil- 
well raised the finest apricots, plums, cherries and 
peaches. Apricots, especially, grew large and fair, and 
ripened unstung by insects, which now to a great extent pre- 
vent the maturing of that fruit. 

His neighbors, Messrs. ' Athorpe, Striker, Woolsey, 
Bowjste, Pearsall and others, and their families, formed an 
agreeable society, which was greatly enjoyed by him. 



24 

At this time (1794) Thomas Paine and his publications 
made great disturbance among religious people. Me. Stil- 
well wrote and published a pamphlet called " A Guide to 
Reason ; or, An Examination of Thomas Paine' s 'Age of 
Reason,' " which was read and approved by those who 
thought as he did, but did not attain extended circulation 
among other persons. He also wrote hymns and short 
poems, some of which were admired and had extensive pub- 
lication. 

When he moved to Bloomingdale in 1791, though the 
road was one of the two mail routes through the Island, so 
few people passed, that fruit which fell from the trees 
bordering it, decayed where it fell. The fruit grown on his 
farm was admired, but the market was limited. The men 
he employed in other farming, took to their work moder- 
ately. The horse, used to go to church on Sunday, was al- 
lowed to stand in the stable on Monday to make up for it, 
and, unable to bear prosperity, ran away several times and 
broke the chaise. So Mr. Stilwell never boasted of his 
farming as a pecuniary success, but subsequent rise in the 
value of the land, (which he early foresaw), made up for all 
shortcomings. 

In those days, the Bowery was a better road than that 
afterwards called Broadway, and through the Bowery he 
went to, and returned from the city. One day he went to 
town with his wife, and they bought among other things, a 
dozen dinner plates. Returning, she held them in her lap, 
the mare they drove before the two-wheeled chaise, stumbled 
and fell, throwing them both out ; they were not hurt, and 
found all the plates lying unbroken, in a semi-circle, on the 
sandy road. 

While he lived at Bloomingdale, he was induced to en- 
dorse a promissory note for a large amount, without consult- 
ing his wife. Notice was received that the maker of it was 
embarrassed, which caused a great stir. All their personal 



25 

property would not pay the note, and the farm was not yet 
in such demand as to bring money at short notice. Mks. 
Stilwell urged the maker of the note to exert himself, he 
paid it, and soon failed entirely. Thus she acquired an in 
fluence with her husband, which was afterwards exerted to 
prevent him from getting into trouble through the kind in- 
terest he took in the affairs of his friends. 

Being appointed one of the assessors of the Ninth Ward, 
which then included a large part of the Island, he and his 
associate, Abraham K. Beekman, furnished their own 
books, horse and carriage, and made a careful examination 
and assessment of the large district committed to them, 
without any fee or charge whatever. It was then thought 
an honor to do the public service. 

While most of their neighbors were agreeable, there 
were a few of another sort, whose ideas on the subject of 
property were quite loose. After the sudden disappearance 
of some of her chickens, Mrs. Stilwell examined a cer- 
tain Polly Major, who washed for her, and was suspected of 
knowing what had become of them. All in vain, however, 
so Mrs. Stilwell feigned that she was satisfied, afterwards 
she said suddenly — "Polly, what did you do with the 
feathers 2" " Threw them behind the back log," said Polly. 



CHAPTER VII. 



In May, 1799, Mr. Stilwell was appointed by the 
United States Commissioners, one of the assessors for the 
second division of the State of New York, " For the valua- 
tion of lands and dwelling houses, and the enumeration of 
slaves in the State of New York." Possibly what he found 
out about slaves, while filling this office, may have quickened 
his zeal for their emancipation, for soon after he manumitted 
all the slaves he owned. 

In the same year, he was elected a Member of the Assem- 
bly of the State of New York, and spent the winter of 1799 
-1800, at Albany, in attention to legislative duties, his wife 
and adopted daughter, being there with him. 

Before they went to Albany, they began to tire of the 
residence at Bloomingdale, there was no Methodist Church 
near, and they went to John Street, the ride to which in bad 
weather was tedious. This made a house in town desirable. 
The question whether the site of it should be on Broadway 
or the Bowery, was settled by the superiority of the road 
through the latter, for they then expected to spend the sum- 
mer at the country house. The price of lots was the same 
on both those streets at that time. Plots of land out of 
town, rose in value, as wealthy citizens built country seats 
to escape yellow fever, which prevailed in the city during 
several summers between 1790 and 1804. 

In January, 1797, Mr. Stilwell bought ground on the 
easterly side of the Bowery, near Bayard street, where he 
built a house, his removal to which was delayed. This 
house, No. 43, afterwards No. 47 Bowery, though subse- 
quently thought small and plain, was much admired when 



27 

it was new. Mrs. Stilwell was gratified at the return to 
the city, always saying that the time spent at Bloomingdale 
was lost, and that the Bowery house suited her. When in 
later years Mr. Stilwell was told that it was thought the 
house was not good enough for him, he answered, " It is 
better to have it said — the house is not good enough for the 
man, than that the man is not good enough for the house." 

The removal to it was not made till the autumn of 1803. 
During the summer of that year, yellow fever existed in the 
city, and they went to Danbury, in Connecticut, where Mr. 
Stilwell became acquainted with Mr. White, celebrated 
as a surveyor and philosopher. 

When the demand for plots of land for country seats 
first arose, Mr. Stilwell employed Casimir Th. Goerck, 
one of the city surveyors, to survey and divide his farm into 
plots for sale. The map was made in January, 1796. Mr. 
Stilwell aided in the survey ; his mathematical studies, 
which he had reviewed in connection with astronomy at 
Bloomingdale, and some instruction from Mr. White, en- 
abled him to understand it fully, and when subsequently he 
wanted a different arrangement of the plots, he was able to 
make it himself. 

Before his removal to the Bowery, Alderman Min- 
thorne, with whom he had been associated as U. S. Assess- 
or, requested him to examine into the difficulties existing 
relative to surveys in the city. It was soon discovered that 
as there was no definite standard for the adjustment of 
chains and rods used by surveyors, they had all been sure 
their chains were long enough, with something to spare ; 
expecting that when purchasers of land found more than 
their deeds called for, (which is the effect of a lengthened 
chain,) they would be satisfied, and not complain of the sur- 
veyor. The seller of the land seldom knew of the surplus, 
so he was left out of their account. This expedient an- 
swered its purpose, while land was sold only by the acre, 



28 

but when city blocks or squares were laid out with such 
chains, a surplus or excess of ground was found when strict- 
er measurement was made. Sometimes several of the pur- 
chasers of the lots into which a block was divided, would 
fence, in addition to the width of their lots, the quantity of 
surplus ground there was in the block, hoping to hold it by 
possession, each claiming as good a right to it as the others, 
and hence arose ill feeling and law suits. 

This state of things being reported by Mr. Stilwell, 
legal advice was taken as to how a proper standard of meas- 
urement could be procured. It was to the effect that the 
adoption of English law in the state of New York, except 
where altered by the Legislature, had legalized the English 
standard, and it was resolved to procure from the Tower of 
London an exemplified copy of the standard yard measure 
there deposited. Before the order was sent, the state au- 
thorities, moved thereto by Mr, Stilwell, requested that 
another copy should be procured for them, which it was in- 
tended to keep in the State House at Albany. 

Mr. Stilwell was commissioned as city surveyor on 
the 31st January, A. D. 1803, and when the standard meas- 
ures arrived, they were sent to him for examination. Though 
made by those accounted good workmen, and well paid for, 
> he detected a slight difference in length, which he demon- 
strated to the Aldermen, and urged that something should 
be done to correct it; but as expense, (then much thought 
of,) had been incurred, they declined to do anything about 
it. One rod was sent to Albany, the other was deposited in 
the City Hall. 

It may fairly be claimed that Mr, Stilwell was one of 
the first persons in the state of New York to appreciate the 
importance of exact measurement, and that his efforts were 
the means of procuring it for his favorite city. To those 
who know the ill feeling and bitterness arising from law 
suits originating from encroachments on land, the subject 
has a moral aspect of importance. 



29 

Having procured the best surveying instruments then 
to be had, he was soon fully occupied in that business. 
Among his early work was the grading and curbing of 
Grand, Broome and other streets running east from the 
Bowery. Although the instruments used by him were 
small, and do not compare with more recent constructions, 
correct work was done, but it took much time and pains. 

John McComb, who succeeded Mr. Stilwell in the of- 
fice of Street Commissioner, caused a rod of seasoned wood 
with metal ends, ten feet long, to be made with great exact- 
ness from the standard yard measure. This was fitted into 
a gauge, and the City surveyors were required to have the 
ends of their rods filed so as just to enter its opening. 

A large pond, the scene of early experiments in steam 
navigation, called the Collect, then existed in what is now 
the Sixth Ward. It contained originally, clear, clean water, 
but as houses multiplied near it became a receptacle of filth. 
It was proposed to build a wall around it and use the water 
to extinguish fires ; this sensible project was overruled, and 
a contract made to fill it with earth. Mr. Stilwell sur- 
veyed, and sounded it, and when the work was said to be 
complete, went to examine it, but the bottom appeared to 
have fallen out, the earth filled in had disappeared, and an 
immense quantity was deposited, before it was finally com- 
pleted. 

The possibility of burning anthracite coal was agitated 
at different periods. At one time specimens of coal from 
Rhode Island were sent by the agent of persons interested, 
to Mr. Stilwell, John Pintard, and other public men. 
Aware of the importance of utilizing these deposits they 
endeavored to contrive some way of burning it, but taken 
from near the surface, the coal was hard, and all the grates 
and stoves of that day 3 were intended for soft, free-burning 
English coal. Just as they despaired of making anything 
of it, the agent came upon them for a recommendation of 



30 

the fuel, as lie called it. John Pintard, of great reputa- 
tion as a lawyer and wit, becoming tired of his pertinacity, 
wrote : " When the last general conflagration shall take 
place, I think Rhode Island will be a good place to go to. 
It's my firm opinion that parts of it will not burn up." 

John Pintard was then Secretary of the Tammany 
Society. One of his duties was the care of a museum of re- 
lics and curiosities, illustrative of American history, kept 
in a room in the City Hall, and intended to preserve the re- 
collection of Revolutionary times and struggles. Part of 
the funds of the society were appropriated to the increase 
of this collection and it became quite extensive, but after 
Mr. Pintard's retirement from office, was lost sight of in 
a curious way, some persons claiming that it was deposited 
in Dr. Scudder's Museum. That may have been done, but 
it lost its distinctive character, and as the society became 
more political and less patriotic, ceased to be esteemed or 
cared for by it. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



The ideas that New York was to be a great city, and 
that the plan on which it ought to be laid out, north of (or 
above) North, (now Houston street,) and Greenwich Lane, 
should be uniform and not subject to the caprices of owners 
of various plots of land, began to be talked about in 1805. 
Mr. Stilwell was consulted, and made surveys for an adop- 
tion of the Middle Road where a part of Fifth avenue now 
is ; with this was to be connected a widening and extension 
of Orchard Street, the fifth street east of the Bowery, to be 
called Albany avenue. But these and other projects evoked 
much opposition, and it became manifest that the power of 
the State Legislature must be exercised. Application to 
that body was made, and on the 3d day of April, 1807, an 
Act was passed, appointing Gouvenetjr Morris, Simeon De 
Witt and John Rutherford, Commissioners of Streets 
and Roads. Among the reasons given for this selection was 
the fact that neither of them owned land on the Island of 
New York, but the first named, had an immense property 
across the Harlem River, toward which, Third Avenue as laid 
out, directly ran. 

Simeon DeWitt, named second, was Surveyor General 
of the state of New York. In his office at Albany was em- 
ployed John Randel Jun., who was appointed surveyor by 
the commissioners. As Mr. Stilwell was associated with 
him for several years to some extent, and had opportunity 
to know why things were done, for which reasons are not ap- 
parent, it is proposed to allow him and his work consider- 
able prominence in this memoir. 

Mr. Randel, having been notified of his appointment, 



32 

walked from Albany to New York, note book in hand, 
making in it a map of the road, and of all interesting ob- 
jects on or near it. He was introduced to the city authori- 
ties, who showed him the standard rod, and gave him an 
account of the projects talked of in connection with a new 
plan of the northern part of the city ; to all, he listened 
pleasantly, but did not coincide with anything but the adop- 
tion of the Middle Road, as giving the direction in which the 
avenues were to run. Here the Fifth Avenue was located by 
him, as in the plan first made by Mr. Stilwell. He used 
in measuring, a standard from Albany, but it was not known 
to agree with that brought from the Tower of London ; on all 
such subjects he was usualty reticent, but sometimes evinced 
great readiness in giving answers without information. 

It appeared that at the early meetings of the commis- 
sioners, it was settled that the avenues should be one hun- 
dred feet wide, the majority of the streets sixty feet wide, 
and that where the topography of the Island, or other cir- 
cumstances made it advisable, streets one hundred feet wide 
should be laid out. They constituted themselves judges of 
this topography, &c, went out with Mr. Randel, and 
directed where the one hundred feet streets were to be run 
through ; stakes, and afterward, brown stone monuments 
were put down to mark these grand divisions of the work. 
They also located some of the avenues, after which the de- 
tails were left to Mr. Randel. It appeared that he meas- 
ured the distances between certain streets on the Fifth Ave- 
nue, and divided the spaces between them, so as to make 
blocks of equal size, as nearly two hundred feet each, as 
might be, and streets of sixty feet, and one hundred feet 
wide respectively, as directed by the commissioners. This 
accounts for the irregular size of different series of blocks 
or squares, and the fractions of feet, given in his report, 
which were stumbling blocks to many persons at the time 
of its first publication. The plan was also criticised for its 



33 

omission of diagonal streets or avenues, which it was claim- 
ed would be necessary in a business city, like New York. 

The compensation for the services of the commissioners 
and their surveyor, was intended (according to the custom of 
the time) to be moderate, but Mr. Randel began a display 
of instruments and assistants that caused questions to be 
asked, to which he gave no satisfactory answers. He had a 
kind of trestle work of wood, which was arranged so that 
the rods laid on it could be brought to a horizontal position, 
and at the end of each measurement, observation of a ther- 
mometer was made, and a calculation for the effect of differ- 
ence from the medium temperature at which the rods would 
measure exactly. He was opposed to offsets, and in order 
to run exact lines, insisted on cutting down trees, and dis- 
posing of things in a way disagreeable to the owners. At 
one time he sent, in advance of his coming, printed copies 
of the law, appointing the commissioners, with a notice of 
his intention to remove trees and other obstacles to the sur- 
vey. The people, who had not then been tamed by the col- 
lection of an income tax, refused to admit him within their 
enclosures until he modified his pretensions. 



CHAPTER IX. 



At this time De Witt Clinton was Mayor of the city. 
He was an intimate friend of Me. Stilwell, who probably 
at his suggestion was appointed Street Commissioner by the 
Common Council, on the 3d day of January, 1810. The 
Commissioner of Public Works now holds the office most 
like that which was thus conferred. As such officer, Mr. 
Stilwell had general direction of city improvements, and 
of the surveyors, who prepared plans for them. Of course 
he took an interest, official as well as personal, in the work 
of Mr. Randel. While he admired the abilities of that in- 
dividual, and saw the excellence of his work, he wondered 
how it was all to be paid for. Mr. Randel claimed that his 
first agreement for compensation was for a part of the work 
only. The city officials understood it was for all of it. He 
convinced them that it did not apply to all the work, or that 
they could not get all the work without paying more money 
than they had appropriated. So they consented to al- 
lowances for setting the white marble monuments at the 
intersections of the streets and avenues, etc. , which brought 
the whole cost to about $30,000. This, certainly, was not 
an extravagant price for a work prosecuted with great en- 
ergy and ability for several years, and which was probably 
the most perfect thing of the kind ever extended over so 
large and irregular a surface. 

Mr. Randel and his brother and lieutenant, William, 
had the power of working and making others work. All 
their assistants were hired on agreement that they might be 
discharged at any time. One cool October morning, William 
told one of them to wade through a pond about three feet 
deep. When he hesitated to do so, he was paid and dis- 
charged at once. 



35 

John Randel, Jr., was no doubt in advance of his con- 
temporaries ; he had no desire to amass wealth, and used 
money to show his ability and foresight, and his confidence 
in them. He improved some instruments used in surveying, 
but failed to make an advance in levelling, by substituting 
for the spirit level, an instrument giving a right angle to a 
perpendicular. 

The law passed by the Legislature, approving and con- 
firming his work, was drawn by him, so as to make his meas- 
ure a legal standard. It was at the rate of one inch on one 
hundred feet shorter than that yard measure deposited in 
the City Hall, and used for the standard of the lower part of 
the city. It may have been derived from the rod sent to 
Albany, which, as has been stated, did not exactly agree 
with that first mentioned. By foresight on his part, or a 
happy coincidence, the standard of the United States, pre- 
pared several years after by the celebrated Professor 
Hassler, agreed with that used by Mr. Randel. The 
slight difference in the measurement of the lower and upper 
parts of the city, is explained by the foregoing statements. 

He suggested numbering the blocks or squares of the 
city on a map to be used in facilitating references, in descrip- 
tions of real estate, and made such a map, which is still in 
use. But the provisions of an ordinance passed in 1844, by 
the Common Council providing for a record indexed by such 
block numbers, which would have enabled persons of ordi- 
nary ability to ascertain for themselves to what assessments 
their lots were subject, have not been carried out. 

He foresaw that the streets of New York would be 
crowded in time to come, and about 1835, suggested and 
drew plans for an elevated railway, like that since built in 
Greenwich Street. 

His peculiarities were strongly marked, and not of a 
sort to make him rich. He died at Albany, N. Y., August 
1st, A. D. 1865. 



CHAPTER X 



About A. D. 1809, Samuel Leggett, a merchant, pro- 
posed a method for supplying the city of New York with 
water from the Bronx River, a stream in Westchester 
County. Mr. SttlWell and others favored the suggestion, 
because they thought that a plentiful supply of pure water 
would prevent the yellow fever, or abate its force, examina- 
tion of the water of some wells in the city having revealed 
impurity and animalculse of a disgusting sort. But Me. 
Leggett did nothing but suggest, and his project slum- 
bered, till Robert McComb, having built flour mills on 
Spuyten Duyvel Creek, near Kingsbridge, built also Mc- 
Comb' s Dam over Harlem River, with the intention of ar- 
resting the eastward flow of the tide, so as to increase the 
water power at the mills. This it did, but not to an extent 
sufficient to compete with mills driven by streams in the 
western part of the state of New York ; therefore, the Kings- 
bridge Mills did not pay as had been anticipated, and it was 
thought that water from the Bronx River might be brought 
in pipes over the dam for the supply of the city, thus utiliz- 
ing a very expensive structure. 

Robert McComb caused surveys, maps and plans to be 
made, showing the feasibility of the project, and applied to 
the Common Council for a grant of the monopoly of the 
supply for a long period. The conditions on which be in- 
sisted were so stringent, that a few of the wiser abettors of 
the plan withdrew their support, among whom was Mr. 
Stilwell ; but the Common Council and the commonalty 
remained favorable. On the evening of a meeting, when it 
would have been passed by acclamation, the applicant 
asked for a postponement, that other provisions in his favor 



37 

might be added. This gave time for second thought, and it 
was not possible afterwards to get a majority of the Com- 
mon Council to vote a monopoly of the water supply to an 
individual. The Croton River and an aqueduct were soon 
seen to be necessary for the use of a great city. 

McComb's Dam in the fall of the year in those days 
was often the scene of exciting sport. Striped bass, one of 
the iinest species of food fishes, were then plenty, and in pre- 
paring for the hybernation in which they indulged in winter, 
went through the gates of the dam when the tide was rising 
to feed on the shrimp and other bait which abounded in the 
pond. Immense numbers, from a pound upward in weight, 
were taken with rod and reel by sportsmen from the city, 
among whom might be seen Me. Christopher Milde- 
berger, and other retired merchants. The difficulty of get- 
ting out of the pond while the gates remained on the dam 
was such that some of the fish stayed there all winter, in- 
stead of resorting to deep, fresh water, or going to sea for 
that season, during which they eat little or no food. Some- 
times the detained fish were found in the ice, frozen stiff, but 
always returned to life and activity, when put unhurt into 
cold water. 

The habits of this excellent kind of fish expose them to 
many dangers, and the want of enforced laws for their pre- 
servation, has left the young fry subject to the most wanton 
and wholesale destruction by men. If they had been perse- 
cuted by bluefish to the same extent as some other finny 
tribes, they would now be nearly extinct, but their hard 
scales and sharp fins make them safe against the attacks of 
other fish, after they attain moderate size. 

Friend Hicks, a Long Island Quaker, expressed his 
sense of the value of this fish, thus : " Eating is a duty, but 
when thee has a fine striped bass for thy dinner, the duty is 
a very pleasant one." 



CHAPTER XI. 



Before his appointment as Street Commissioner, Mr. 
Stilwell had built three houses south of his residence on 
the Bowery, and purchased other property, which rose in 
value. Being possessed of income enough for his purposes 
when, about 1815, he found his health failing, he resigned his 
office, and afterwards lived in quiet retirement, which was 
enforced by ossification, or thickening of the structure of 
the blood vessels near the heart. It was not often painful, 
but it obstructed circulation, and active exertion produced 
palpitation and distress. 

He transferred his attendance from John Street to For- 
syth Street Methodist Church, and acted as one of its trus- 
tees and stewards with great acceptance for many years. A 
colored woman named Day, a member of the church, came 
to him and induced him to buy her time, (as it was called) — 
a law of the state of New York, then limiting a time when all 
slaves should become free. She proved an excellent servant, 
but in a few months, sickened and died. While ill, she en- 
treated Mr. Stilwell to care for her son Jem, after her 
death. This he promised to do. Jem was a nice little 
darkey when he came with his mother to the house, but 
after her decease, made acquaintance with boys who ran 
with a fire engine, and did not improve in his morals. He 
would go with the family to meeting on Sunday morning, 
leaving the house carefully shut up and fastened. When 
the family came home, Jem would be standing, smiling and 
grinning, in the open front door to receive them, and would 
not tell how he got in. 

The presiding genius of the kitchen at that time was a 
manumitted slave named Rachel, To torment her was one 



39 

of Jem's chief delights. She took his mischief as fun at 
first, but tiring of it, undertook to stop it by retaliation. To 
be revenged, Jem laid himself across a door one evening, in 
the way of Rachel, who was to bring cake to company in 
the parlor. As she passed through the dining room, which 
was but dimly lighted, she tripped over him and fell, break- 
ing a plate and scattering the cake, with great noise. The 
company came to see what had happened, and found Rach- 
el on the floor — a terrible humiliation for her. Jem was not 
visible, having retired before much light was thrown on the 
subject. Rachel was not expected to forgive him, so there 
was trouble in the house. Out of doors the neighbors com- 
plained of his mischief and mad capers, therefore Mb. Stil- 
wEll put him with a barber of his own color, on Pearl 
Street, to learn that trade. The barber having a wooden 
head, covered with kid leather set Jem to practise lathering 
and shaving it, but he hacked the leather so as to disgust 
his patron, who threatened disagreeable consequences. A 
hint from another apprentice, set Jem to rubbing powdered 
alum into the marks of his unskilfulness, which were so far 
concealed as to induce the barber one day, when about to 
go to dinner, to leave an unlucky drover, with a beard of a 
week's growth, in Jems hands. When the barber returned 
the drover, with bleeding face, was swearing in an incohe- 
rent way. His revelations of what he had suffered from 
Jem, caused that worthy to be at once returned to Mr. Stil- 
well. 

Subsequently Mr. Stilwell took Jem to Paterson, N. J., 
where cotton goods were then manufactured on a large scale, 
and apprenticed him to the owner of a factory. He worked 
there for a while, but ran off on the day preceding the night 
of the illumination of New York in honor of the peace of 
1815, with another colored boy. They lost their way, and 
spent the night, which was intensely cold, under the lee of 
a barn. Though his feet were frozen, Jem arrived at No. 47 



40 

Bowery about 2 o'clock, P.M., of the next day. As soon as 
his condition was known, a doctor was sent for and his feet 
were saved. After he recovered, he went to Long Island 
and worked as a wood cutter ; then he became a sailor, per- 
haps a pirate. He looked like one, after returning from 
those voyages ; his aspect was changed, the fun was gone 
out of his eyes, something diabolical had come in its place. 
Mr. Stilwell gave him money to establish himself on Long 
Island. Subsequently he came to the Bowery house intoxi- 
cated, returning late at night, was refused admission and 
went away in a rage. He was not heard of afterwards. As- 
tonishing feats of strength, agility and daring were common 
with him. He once danced a hornpipe on a beam above a 
glass furnace in full blast, at Grlasco, Ulster Co., N. Y. 
Had he fallen, he would have been burned to death in a mo- 
ment. 

At this time Mr. Stilwell amused himself with prac- 
tising on the flute. He played tolerably ; his musical fan- 
cies ran only upon melody. If more parts than the base 
were added to an air, he was disturbed, and usually left as 
soon as good manners would permit. 

In June, 1808, the adopted daughter of Mr. and Mrs. 
Stilwell became the wife of Mr. Edward Doughty, who 
was a partner of his father, a merchant dealing in lumber. 
Their trade was mainly with the British West India Islands, 
and was interrupted by the war of 1812. 

Shortly after their marriage the young couple were in- 
vited to make a visit of a week or two, at the house in the 
Bowery. Though arrangements for their departure were 
begun a few times, they were always discontinued, and for 
more than thirty years, Mr. and Mrs. Doughty resided, 
there. During the dull times consequent upon the war, Mr. 
Doughty studied surveying, and when peace and renewed 
prosperity, caused improvements to be resumed in the city, 
he preferred the sure gains of that business, to the uncertain- 
ties of commerce. 



41 

During the war with England, which followed the de- 
claration of 1812, there was great difficulty in getting money 
to carry it on. The difference between the methods then 
necessary, and those employed during the war of the Rebel- 
lion is as great as the contrast of the thrift and economy 
of the earlier period and the waste and loss of the later. On 
some occasions the Government were glad to borrow small 
sums, (or what now seem such,) from individuals. In Feb- 
ruary, 1813, Congress passed an act for borrowing sixteen 
millions of dollars. Proposals were advertised for, but less 
than four millions were offered. A state of uncertainty fol- 
lowed, to end which, the merchants of the city, headed by 
Jacob Barker, opened a subscription, and Mr. Stilwell 
put down his name for $10,000, and this stock he held till it 
was paid off, many years after. Before this action on the 
part of the merchants and others, the Government could 
not raise money without paying fifteen per cent discount. 



CHAPTER XII. 



Mr. Stil well's happy interest in the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church was interrupted in the years 1818-19 by a 
variety of difficulties. The presiding elders claimed more 
authority than formerly. A movement to admit lay repre- 
sentatives to the General Conference was refused considera- 
tion. Building a church at Bowery village, (since replaced 
by the church on Seventh street,) and rebuilding the church 
on John street were undertaken, though opposed by conser- 
vatives, and prosecuted, it was charged, with ostentation 
unbecoming Methodists, and to the great increase of the 
debt of the church, and worst of all, a proposition was en- 
tertained by the General Conference to apply to the Legisla- 
ture of the state for the passage of an Act to enable them to 
enforce the peculiarities of their discipline. 

When remonstrances were presented, little attention was 
paid to them, and dissatisfaction was widely diffused among 
the members of the church. Their temper may be known 
by extracts from a declaration published by some of them 
soon after : 

" Though the Scriptures of truth, written by inspiration, are incompar- 
ably superior to all secular writings, yet other records are frequently of 
use in conveying knowledge whereby mankind may be benefited. Among 
these, the history of the church, from the days of the apostles to the time 
of the Reformation, is not the least. Neale's History of the Puritans, de- 
scribes a series of arrogant and cruel persecutions of the pious, on the one 
hand ; on the other, patient endurance and resignation. Sewell's History 
of the Rise and Progress of the People called Quakers, is an interesting 
history, considered by that society of great value. In the account of their 
sufferings, we may see further confirmation of the word of truth — 
that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution ; and 
this has always been the case when a Christian church has declined so far 



43 

from piety, and the simplicity of the gospel, that their ministers have usurped 
an unwarrantable dominon over the members, and become greedy of great 
emoluments for their services." 

Here follows an account of the work begun by Wesley, 
in the year 1737, and then they proceed — 

" In the year, 1 766, societies began to be formed in America, known by 
the name of Methodist Societies, until the year 1784, when they took the 
Episcopal order, and afterwards the name of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
They increased greatly in numbers and popularity, and assumed a dignity un- 
known before among them. The clergy formed a discipline, without con- 
sulting the laity, and took the government of the church upon themselves, 
which they retain to this day. Although the people have frequently peti- 
tioned the conference for a lay representation, they have not yet obtained 
it ; and from recent acts of the conference, it appears that the clergy, in- 
stead of being willing to have their power diminished, wish to have it in- 
creased. * * * 

" Those who had been the cause of increasing the debt of the church, 
with their adherents, began to call select meetings, for the purpose, it was 
said, of altering the mode of nominating and electing trustees." * * * 

" These proceedings and meetings continued until the meeting of the 
annual conference in New York, in 1820. The result of those meetings 
was then laid before the conference and referred to a committee, who in 
their report recommended a petition to the Legislature of the State, to 
pass an act to enable them to enforce the peculiarities of their discipline, 
which was agreed to by a majority of the conference." 

Seth Crowell, a preacher attached to the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, was active in endeavoring to cause the 
purification of it, and wrote letters to Mr. Stilwell and 
others, urging that something should be done to show that 
all Methodists were not willing to have Lords over the heri- 
tage. These, and other appeals acting on the feeling of op- 
position to arbitrary power engendered in his mind by the 
struggles of the Revolutionary War, induced Mr. Stilwell 
to begin a correspondence with the disaffected, among whom 
was his nephew, the Rev. Wm. M. Stilwell, (a son of 
Stephen,) who expressed willingness to take charge of an 
independent society. A separation from the Methodist 



44 

Episcopal Church was soon made ; the new organization 
taking the name of the Methodist Society in the city of New 
York. 

Its first meeting was held in a school-room, at No. 63 
Chrystie Street, on the 16th day of July, 1820. Immediate 
measures were taken for building a church on lots on 
Chrystie Street, which was completed, and on the 31st day 
of December, 1820, opened, and dedicated by the Rev. Wm. 
M. Stilwell. It is now occupied as a Jewish Synagogue. 
The nationality and religion of the neighboring residents 
are very different from those of fifty years ago. 

Among the preachers who joined the new movement, in 
addition to Rev. Messrs. Stilwell and Crowell, were 
the Rev. James Covel, M. D., a man of ability, excellent 
character, and gentleness of temper, Rev. Mr. Miller of 
Rochester, New York, who was possessed of natural elo- 
quence, and the Rev. George Phillips, an earnest preach- 
er, who dated his serious impressions from the Battle of 
Waterloo, in which he took part, and escaped death as by 
miracle. 

Among the laymen, Messrs. Stilwell, Taylor, Hig- 
gins, Sturman, De Camp, Sutton and Miller were con- 
spicuous for attention and liberality. Subsequently, Mr. 
Stilwell built a chapel on his lots at the southwest corner 
of Delancy and Pitt Streets, and a third was afterwards 
erected on lots on Sullivan Street, where Rev. Mr. Phil- 
lips, above named, ministered for several years. 

Organizations in various parts of the country were 
formed, and sent their greetings to the new society, to 
whose order and discipline they promised to adhere. In 
England, also, objection to arbitrary exertion of power in 
the church was made, by the laity and lower order of min- 
isters, both before and after the movement in New York, as 
may be seen by the following : — 

From a history of Lincolnshire, England, published in 
1856, by William White— 



45 

"The Rev. John Wesley, A. M., the founder of the Arminian 
Methodists, and son of the Rev. Samuel Wesley, Rector of Epworth, etc., 
was born there in 1703, and his brother Charles in 1708. John Wesley 
died in 1791. Charles composed many of the beautiful hymns used by 
the Methodists, who now form a numerous and influential body of Chris- 
tians; but since the days of their founder they have been divided into sev- 
eral schisms, the principal of which are — the Old Connection or Wesleyan 
Methodists, the New Connection or Kilhamite Methodists, the Primitive 
Methodists, the Association or Warrenite Methodists, and the Wesleyan 
Reformers or Free Methodists. The latter are already a very numerous 
body, though they only threw off the yoke of the Wesleyan Conference a 
few years ago." 

" Mr. Alexander Kilham, the founder of the New Connection, was 
also a native of this parish, and died in 1798, after fighting hard against the 
' priestly domination' of the Wesleyan Conference, which, having lost the 
mild and tolerant spirit of its founder, has occasioned, at various periods, 
dissatisfaction and secession." 

From the standpoint of New York, it looked as if a 
wide-spread, perhaps a general revolution, in the order of 
the Methodist Church was impending. 

But the man for the time was not forthcoming. Mr. 
Samuel Stilwell was probably the only person connected 
with the Separatists in New York possessed of talent and 
address enough to direct or carry on the immense under- 
taking which was presented, and he was growing old, his 
health was sapped by an insidious disease, which retarded 
the circulation of the blood. His wife doubted the ultimate 
success of the society, and gave no encouragement. Mr. 
Sturman, an Englishman, who owned property, and took a 
warm interest in the society, was also in feeble health. The 
opportunity passed away. The indignation excited by op- 
pression, or what was considered such, diminished. Pre- 
siding elders and other church officers withdrew, or reduced 
their pretensions ; a great change in the nationality and 
religion of the inhabitants of the eastern part of the city, 
(where the first and second meeting-houses were erected), 



46 

took place ; Israelite and Romish emigrants came from Eu- 
rope, in force. Hardy, and with habits of pinching econ- 
omy and self-denial, they drove out the Americans, and es- 
tablished synagogues, and churches of Romish order. 

The expense attending these movements in the Metho- 
dist Church was considerable. A large part of it was borne 
by Mr. Stilwell. As a help in this direction, and also to 
furnish what was much needed by the society, he bought a 
plot of ground, lying in the block or square between First 
and Second Avenues and First and Second Streets, from 
Augustus Wynkoop, and laid out a part of it in private 
burial plots, which he conveyed to those who bought, in 
fee. (This portion of the cemetery remains.) The residue 
of the land was used as a public burial ground, and vaults 
were built in it. After the change of population in the 
vicinity of the first church, which has been described, and 
about the year 1847, a church was built on the southeastern 
part of this land, being part of the public ground. Here 
the Rev. Wm. M. Stilwell ministered, till he became 
superanuated. Subsequently this church was sold to Pres- 
byterians, who, after occupying it for a while, sold it to the 
City Board of Education. This body, by aid of the Board 
of Health, which is endowed with power, ordinary and ex- 
traordinary, and seems unscrupulous in its exercise, re- 
moved the remains of the dead, and the vaults, and in 
1874-75, took down the church, and built a public school 
on the property. 

Thus by degrees, the division in the Methodist Church 
came to an end. The motives of those who took part in it 
were good and honest, and their action produced good fruit, 
though not as expected. It gave warning to overbearing 
officials, who moderated their pretensions, and this moder- 
ation continues. The laity are treated with more consider- 
ation, and have more power in the church now, than they 
had before the year 1820. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



In common with most natives of Long Island, our friend 
was fond of fishing, and when he lived at Bloomingdale, 
caught all the fish he wanted in summer and autumn off a 
rock running into the Hudson River opposite his place. 
After moving to the Bowery he made several excursions for 
the enjoyment of this sport, and once went to Jamaica Bay. 

Taking the son of his adopted daughter with him, he 
set out one morning in September for the residence of Mr. 
S****** 5 whom he had known many years before. As he 
rode down the lane to the house, he was accosted by two of 
S******'s sons, who did not know him, and would not 
have cared for him, if they had. They tried to frighten him 
off, saying it was a dangerous place for Yorkers, that some 
of them had been drowned there, and that it was no use to 
go out, for the fish had all run off — there wasn't one of them 
in the bay. 

When the house was reached, and word sent in that a 
person wished to see Me. Stilwell, an aged individual 
with a face like a withered apple of the sourest kind came 
out. " Don't you remember, Sammy Stilwell?" wrought 
a change in his aspect beyond belief. There was a warm 
welcome, kindest inquiries about Stephen and William, 
and when fish were spoken of, he exclaimed, ' ' Plenty of 
'em, Sammy, I wish I could go with you, but I'm too old, 
I'll give you the ranges ; you shall pull 'em in as fast as you 
can bait and throw over." At his request, or rather order, 
the young S******s with ill grace, rolled up their pants 
and pushed off the boat, which Mr. Stilwell rowed to 
the spot indicated by Me. S******, and for half an hour 



48 

large weak fish were pulled in rapidly. Then the tide began 
to come in, through an inlet opposite which the boat lay ; 
the wind beginning to blow briskly from the same direction, 
the stone used as an anchor would not hold the boat against 
these combined forces, and being taken in, the fishermen 
had nothing to do but steer for the landing. Had the wind 
taken another direction, it might have been too much for 
their rowing powers, and the young S******* have had 
more occasion for grumbling, as their father was watching 
for the safety of his friend, and would have sent them to aid 
him in another boat. 

When, owing to age and weakness, such excursions 
were given up, Mr. Stilwell spent a large part of his 
time in Me. Doughty' s office, which adjoined the house on 
the Bowery, taking great interest in what was going on in 
the improvement of the city ; his opinion and advice being 
frequently asked by Messrs. Stuyvesant, descendants of 
his friends of early life, and by other land owners. 

When the combination of the Whig and native Ameri- 
can parties in the year 1843, brought about the election of a 
Common Council composed of men of property and charac- 
ter, who proceeded to abolish the orgies of the City Hall 
Tea Room, (as it was called,) where the meanest of mankind, 
if they had political influence, had been allowed to drink 
high-priced liquors, and smoke extravagant segars at the 
public expense ; and other retrenchment and reform was 
commenced, he was delighted, and hoped the old fashion 
of honesty and economy was to return. That his namesake, 
the son of his adopted daughter, and the writer of this me- 
moir, should by that Common Council, be appointed Street 
Commissioner, (the office he himself had held thirty years 
before,) was also a great gratification to him. 

But the reform movements of that Common Council 
were not sustained by the taxpayers of the city, against 
whom a verdict of " served right" is recorded, because they 



49 

allowed general politics to be mingled with, and to overcome 
the issues involved in municipal elections, or meaner, and 
more foolish still, tried to promote their individual interests 
by pandering to corrupt political organizations, the nominees 
of which, being elected to office, soon restored abuses, which 
for a year had been done away. Disappointed in his hope 
of good government, Mr. Stilwell gave up the expecta- 
tion of the escape of his favorite city from heavy taxation, 
which he predicted would drive business to other localities. 

After he was seventy-five years old his eyesight was 
subject to curious changes. Sometimes he could see to read 
without spectacles, at others, he could hardly see at all. 
When his eyes were in good state, he read a great deal, at 
other times he sat as one patiently waiting. He continued 
to go to the church in Chrystie Street till over eighty years 
old, afterward his nephew, the pastor, visited him almost 
every day. In the autumn of 1846, he was attacked by 
illness, which weakened him, and diminished the already 
languid circulation of his blood. When asked how he felt, 
he would answer with a patient smile, " More dead than 
alive," but he did not complain of much pain. 

At the beginning of February, 1848, he found difficulty 
in breathing. Gentle stimulants were prescribed and taken 
with good effect, and the physician thought him so much 
better, that on the morning of Saturday the twelfth, he con- 
cluded it would be unnecessary for him to call on the next 
day. There was no change till evening, when, sitting in his 
chair, he asked Mrs. Stilwell : "Does it look as if snow is 
coming ? " Before she could answer, there was a rattling in 
his throat, his head fell forward, and he was dead. Resto- 
ratives were applied, and the doctor hurried to his aid, 
but all in vain. 

A sudden contraction of the blood vessels, which had 
long been diseased, brought about the fatal change. It 
would doubtless have occurred before, but for his care and 



50 

self-control. He never hurried to a steamboat or other con- 
veyance ; always starting early, he went to his engagements 
without haste. When the theatre opposite his residence 
was burning, and his house caught fire from it, he main- 
tained composure. 

Perhaps if he had not been warned by the fate of his 
friend, Hamilton, he would have been more conspicuous, 
though he might have died earlier from the action of the ex- 
citements of public life on a frame enfeebled by organic 
disease. 

His judgment in matters of business, was sound and ex- 
cellent ; he was a kind and wise counsellor. By making 
things plain to those who had less penetration, he prevented 
many lawsuits. His moderation was remarkable. In his 
later years he did not seek to increase his estate by accumu- 
lation, but gave away a large part of the revenue. 

He was of pleasing personal appearance, five feet eight 
inches in height, and rather stout ; his head was large and 
well formed, with a noble forehead ; the expression of his 
countenance was placid, not insipid, and was itself a letter 
of recommendation to strangers ; his movements were easy 
and dignified. 

He was buried in the plot he had selected in the First 
Street burial ground. His widow, who died in 1855, was 
laid by his side. In the same enclosure rest the remains of 
Edward Sturm an (mentioned before in this memoir) and 
Ann, his wife. An inscription on Mrs. Stilwell's tomb 
commemorates their friendship : — 

Two childless pairs through mortal life 

In Christian friendship pass'd, 
And here at length, Death gather' d in 

The eldest, and the last. 



51 



Lovely and pleasant in their lives, 
They here in peace are laid, 

Death never can such sonls divide, 
They're one in Christ, their head. 



THE EPITAPH ON MRS. STILWELL. 

Here rests the mortal part of one 
Who gifts of nature, and of fortune shared, 
And many acts of charity perform' d ; 
But these, alas ! and kindest care of friends, 
Man's mournful doom from her could not avert. 

Death hath a wintr'y triumph— yet we trust 
That thro' our Savior's grace, this wither' d frame 
Will in a happy, genial clime revive, 
And live, and bloom forevermore, unchill'd 
By the rude winds that sweep o'er all the earth. 



MR. STILWELL'S EPITAPH. 

SELECTED BY HIS WIDOW. 

Here rest beneath this humble pile of earth, 
The mortal relics of transcendent worth, 

With Christian virtue all his precepts glow'd, 
Their constant practice, his example show'd.; 

Sickness and pain he bore with soul serene, 
And left without a tear this mundane scene, 

By faith supported, passed Death's gloomy way, 
And sought the realms of everlasting day. 



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